As musicians read, prepare and perform music, and as music students learn to do so, it is important that they develop good sight reading skills. Sight reading is the ability to see a piece of notated music, such as sheet music, for the first time, and immediately play or sing the music with a high degree of accuracy. That degree of accuracy can be measured in terms of accuracy of pitches and rhythms. Additionally, it can include phrasing, dynamics, changes of tempo, etc. Sometimes a musician may have a limited amount of time to look over the music before starting to play or sing it. This can be the case in rehearsals, auditions and live performances. Auditions, for instance, may allow a fixed amount of time for the candidate to examine the music, before sight-reading it. In other circumstances, there may be no time at all, available for the musician to examine music before playing or singing it.
The ability to sight read well is recognized as an important skill for musicians, and is an important indicator of music literacy. Music literacy refers to the ability to read musical notation and to read notation at sight without the aid of a prior hearing. It is also something that can be intimidating for many musicians, because they are compelled to read and perform music without any advance preparation. Some musicians simply lack sight reading skills. Many more lack confidence in their sight-reading, and find it traumatic or stressful when they have to sight-read, particularly in high-stakes situations such as auditions or live performances.
As is the case with many other skills which improve with practice, sight-reading gets easier as the musician practices it, and gains experience. Musicians who are in situations in which they are regularly required to sight-read find that their skills improve. For instance, many singers find church choir work useful for developing sight-reading skills, because music for performance is “churned out” from week to week. While a certain degree of excellence of performance is achieved, the weekly pace of music preparation and performance is unrelenting, and sight-reading is continuously required.
While musicians find opportunities to improve sight-reading skills with teachers or accompanists, or within larger musical ensembles, it would also be possible for musicians to practice sight-reading alone.